Duncan vs. O’Neal

Tim Duncan and the Pacers’ Jermaine O’Neal took over the scoring early in the second half.

Whatever Duncan did when he grabbed at his knee in the first half didn’t seem to bother him as the second half started.

Duncan scored the Spurs’ first five points of the third quarter. Duncan went to the free-throw line once when he was fouled by O’Neal and also blocked an O’Neal shot early in the period.

That helped carry the Spurs to a 69-59 lead with 8:03 left in their third quarter — their biggest lead to that point.

O’Neal scored the Pacers’ first eight points of the quarter. But while O’Neal was carrying the Pacers’ scoring load himself, Duncan got five points worth of help from Tony Parker early on in the period.

O’Neal scored 14 points in the period to keep the Pacers in the game.

The Spurs padded their lead to as many as 16 points in the third quarter but a Pacers spurt cut the lead o 84-78 at the end of the period.